TOKYO – A Belarusian athlete who refused to board a flight after she said she was taken to the airport by her team against her wishes was “safe and secure” in Tokyo, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, spent the night in an airport hotel after she went to Japanese police at Haneda airport seeking protection late on Sunday, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a media conference.
In a brewing diplomatic incident, it was unclear where Tsimanouskaya would end up with both Poland and the Czech Republic publicly offering her assistance.
The sprinter, who was due to race in the 200-meter heats at Olympic Stadium on Monday, had her Games cut short when she was taken to the airport to board a Turkish Airlines flight.
She told a Reuters reporter via Telegram that the Belarusian head coach had turned up at her room on Sunday at the athletes village and told her she had to leave.
But she refused to board the flight, saying: “I will not return to Belarus.”(Reuters)
